


say there's no one else for you

by xxPrettyLittleTimeBombxx



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Jealousy, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sharing Clothes, no beta-- we die like our three favorite ghost himbos, rated E to be safe but it's probably more like M tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:33:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxPrettyLittleTimeBombxx/pseuds/xxPrettyLittleTimeBombxx
Summary: “People are going to look at me, you know,” Julie says after a moment. “I can’t help it if they do, and you won’t be able to either— but that doesn’t mean I’m looking back. How can I when—““When…?” Luke prompts, the desire to know getting the better of him.“Nothing— it’s silly. It’s nothing.”“It’s not,” he assures her. “You can tell me anything, Julie— you know that.”
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 20
Kudos: 272





	say there's no one else for you

**Author's Note:**

> **UPDATE (2/23/21):**
> 
> Well...the plan was always to come off anonymous eventually. So here I am. Being brave, coming off anon, and revealing that I wrote this thing back in January. If you've already read it, thank you, and if you're just reading this for the first time, I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> I rated this fic E, but it's really not that explicit-- I probably could have gotten away with an M rating but you know, it never hurts to be safe! 
> 
> \---  
>  **ORIGINAL A/N (1/4/21):**  
>  For the FOUR (4) people who know I wrote this...This is rated E for a reason y’all so if that’s not your thing please exit out now. For the rest of you, I hope you enjoy reading!
> 
> (also the title is a line from Nick Jonas' "Jealous"-- it just seemed fitting, ya know?)

He realizes he shouldn’t have said the words as soon as they slip out and Julie’s face turns hard, mouth flattening into a straight line, warm brown eyes turning dark and cold, brows tilting disapprovingly in his direction.

Luke should have just kept his big mouth shut. Chalked it up to a win when Julie had slipped her arms into his plaid jacket when he’d casually wrapped it around her after impulsively poofing into her school.

It wasn’t uncommon for Luke to seek her out in the middle of the day— especially not when it seemed as though his inspiration had dried up, or the ideas for songs he had bouncing around in his brain just didn’t compute like he wanted them to. But Julie was like a never-ending well of inspiration-- constantly lighting this spark within him that made it feel like the pen in his hand couldn’t keep up with how fast the words were pouring into his head. It was like magic. The way it felt like sometimes, all he needed cure his writer’s block was to orbit in her atmosphere— how it sometimes felt like a pointed look from Julie was all it took to cut open the part of Luke that bled in lyrics and melody.

But all pretenses of curing his writer’s block go flying out the window when he rounds the corner and spots her at her locker.

Luke’s mouth goes dry as he takes in the sight of the tight little skirt she’s wearingcoupled with the white crew neck she’s got tied up at the waist. The shirt in question rides up when Julie rises up on her toes, reaching toward the top most shelf of her locker to pull a book down. His eyes snap to the small sliver of brown skin that peeks out for just a moment, disappearing behind the soft cotton of her top when Julie retrieves the book in question and lowers herself back onto her feet.

His brain short-circuits when he catches sight of a familiar logo stretched tight across her chest. It’s all suddenly too much— the sight of Julie wearing his band’s old merch, coupled with the way that black skirt he’s positive he’s never seen her wear before fits across the small of her back before it flares out, swishing hemline drawing his attention to her legs. His fingers twitch reflexively at his sides, as though itching to reach out and trace across the space where fabric ends and flesh begins.

Luke finds himself abruptly pulled from the fuzzy haze of his fantasies when a group of football players saunter past him. An angry scowl twists over his face when his ears pick up on the suggestive way one of them mutters “ _Niiiccee!”_ while gesturing for his buddies to look over in Julie’s direction. His blood boils when he takes in the way the same guy lets his eyes trail slow and deliberate across Julie’s figure.

The guitarist squares his shoulders, starting toward the group before he remembers that he’s a ghost and wouldn’t be able to land a punch even if he wanted to. And it bothers Luke more than he realizes. The fact that that creep had very obviously found Julie attractive. And it hits him like a sack of bricks. The force of how protectively possessive Luke suddenly feels when he realizes he doesn’t want _anyone else_ to uncover the answers to questions he aches to answer through field work he conducts himself. Questions like whether Julie’s skin feels as warm as it looks. Or whether the skin of her thighs is as soft as he imagines it to be. The visceral emotion only intensifies when he realizes suddenly that he doesn’t want other eyes to trace the dips and curves of her body. When he suddenly realizes just how much he longs to be the only one who’s privileged enough to map the contours of her shape, first with his eyes, and then (if he should be so lucky) with his hands— even if he’s not quite sure he’s worthy enough to do so.

He’s shrugging out of his jacket and walking toward her before he even realizes what he’s doing, draping the plaid fabric gently over her shoulders, breathing a sigh of relief when he realizes that the jacket falls past the hemline of her skirt, concealing a few extra inches of delectable skin.

Julie gasps at the unexpected intrusion, body going tense when she whirls around, but visibly relaxing when she realizes it’s just him.

“You shouldn’t have done that— what if someone had seen?” She mutters, lips hardly moving.

Luke realizes in hindsight that she’s right.He’d acted in haste, and had merely been lucky that the rest of the students had cleared out of the hallway by the time he’d bounded forward and dropped his jacket over her shoulders.

“Relax, Jules— there’s no one around to see anyway,” he says easily, shooting her a lazy grin.

Julie tries her best to keep her face neutral, but he doesn’t miss how her lips begin to purse in the way he knows they only do when she’s trying her best not to encourage him with an involuntary smile.

There’s nobody around, but Julie pulls her phone out of her backpack anyway, holding the device up to her ear just in case anyone decides to walk by.

“Did you come all the way out here just to bring me a jacket that’s not even mine?” she teases.

“I got bored at home, so I came to see if I could hang out with you instead,” he shrugs. “But you looked cold, and I don’t really need my jacket anyway. I thought you might like to borrow it.”

Her eyes go soft as she mutters a thanks, and Luke feels his chest constrict as his eyes dip at the movement that is Julie slipping her arms into his jacket.

From this close, he's got an even better look at the faded Sunset Curve shirt she's sporting today and all of a sudden, Reggie's dumb line about how the shirts are 'size beautiful' doesn't seem so dumb anymore. In fact, he'd bet money on the fact that no one's ever looked more beautiful in the cheap shirts they'd had made in the mid 90s than Julie does right now in the present.

“Nice shirt,” he says, unable to resist.

“Thanks— Flynn found it in my mom’s trunk,” she says through a laugh. “I was going to surprise you guys with it at band practice today. Kinda cool that she had it lying around all this time, don’t you think?”

“It looks good on you,” he says meaningfully, eyes boring into hers. Is it his mind playing tricks on him or does Julie look more flushed than she had before he’d come over? She ducks her head before his eyes have a chance to inspect the coloring of her cheeks any further, clearing her throat as she fiddles with the cuff of his jacket.

“So…can I stay and sit in on some classes with you? I've never been to college before-- you wouldn't deny me the chance, would you, Jules? I promise I’ll behave myself,” he asks, shooting her a pleading look.

His face splits into a wide grin when she agrees, tugging him along through the vacant hallway, her small hand only dropping his when Julie approaches a much busier part of the school.

Luke hadn't ever liked school when he'd been alive, but it's different this time around. It's more enjoyable with Julie, who humors his sporadic remarks in Astronomy 101 when he balks over the news that Pluto is no longer a planet. Or in English Lit when she lets him read Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast' over her shoulder. Or in Music when he notices the way her smile blooms into a wide, toothy grin when he gives her a standing ovation nobody but her can hear or see.

It's a good day until it's not. Until she's studying at the library and he puts his foot in it.

He's absentmindedly tapping out a beat on his knees when he sees them: the same group of jocks from before, their same ring leader leering in Julie's direction while she's up at the reference desk.

Luke takes far more pleasure than he should when the athlete's face falls in disappointment the moment he realizes there's not as much for him to ogle now that Julie's sporting his jacket, and Luke lets out a low, satisfied chuckle as a result.

"What's so funny?" Julie mutters quietly when she drops back into the seat next to him.

The truth spills out before he can stop it. About how those creeps in the lettermen jackets are going to have a tough time checking Julie out now that she’s covered up in his plaid coat which is, subsequently, how Luke suddenly finds himself on the receiving end of Julie’s fury.

Face hard, mouth flattened into a straight line, warm brown eyes turned dark and cold, brows tilting disapprovingly in his direction.

“Unbelievable,” she mutters angrily, shrugging his jacket off roughly before dropping it on the ground between them. She turns quick on her heel and heads straight into the rows upon rows of books without a second glance in his direction. 

Luke stares at his jacket for a moment before he’s up out of his chair, not even bothering to be careful or ensure nobody’s around to see the way the wooden piece of furniture rocks precariously on its four legs as he vacates it.

“Julie— _Julie,_ slow down—“ Luke calls out, following her as she tears through the university's vast library at a quick pace.

“ _No,_ ” she bites out forcefully, effortlessly weaving through the stacks as though hoping she might lose him in the maze of books. “I thought you were doing something nice and chivalrous.”

“Julie, _come on_ —“ he continues, trailing behind as she leads him through the space with the practiced ease of someone who knows the layout of the room like the back of their own hand.

“You didn’t even care if I was cold or not, did you?”

“ _Of course_ I care— it’s just that—“ he starts, floundering for the right way to explain his side of things without angering her even more.

“ _Go home_ , Patterson,” it’s quiet and and low— like a threat that makes his heart feel like it’s been submerged in a bath of ice water. “I don’t even want to _look_ at you right now.”

He should do as she says and poof back into the garage, wait for Julie to get home, and then grovel at her feet until he’s smoothed things over or she lets up and stops being mad. But her tone scares him, and he’s too afraid to find out what might happen if he leaves now and lets her seethe in silence.

“ _No_ ,” he calls out stubbornly, squaring his jaw. It comes out louder than he’d intended it to, and the high volume of his voice in a space that’s not intended to be anything but quiet is enough for Julie to come to a halt. His next words are a gentle juxtaposition in comparison to his previous tone. “Not until I make this right.”

She doesn’t turn to face him, but this time when she walks ahead, it’s slow, her fingers reaching out to trail over the spines of the books on the shelves. The old cloth covers are so worn, and the lighting is so dim back here, he can barely make out their titles.

“Jules…” he pleads, when she stops halfway down the row and turns to face the shelf on her right.

“Why’d you do it?” she asks quietly.

“I don’t know,” he lies.

“That’s not an answer,” she says, reaching up to pull a book off the shelf in front of her.

That same sliver of skin appears again at her waist— the one he’d been mesmerized by when he’d first poofed into her school and spotted Julie at her locker. He’s still mesmerized by it now as he steps closer, crowding up behind her until he can feel the heat of her back rolling off of her in waves.

“I just…didn’t like the way they were looking at you,” he confesses.

“ _Luke…_ ”

He’s close enough to see the way she’s fiddling nervously with the book in her hands, fingertips toying with a thread that’s coming loose on the frayed edges of the spine.

“What?” He whispers close to her ear.

“Were you…” she stops, taking in a deep breath before she continues, letting the rest of her sentence ring out into the silence on her exhale. “Were you jealous?”

“What? No!” he assures her quickly.

“ _Oh_ …” her response is short. Forcefully light and nonchalant, but he knows Julie far too well to take it at face value. And it’s the way that singular syllable is tinged in disappointment that forces Luke to backtrack on his previous words.

“Maybe a little bit,” he admits quietly, dropping his head until his forehead is resting on her shoulder.

He waits with baited breath to see if she’ll shrug him off because she’s still upset that he’d let his jealousy get the better of him. But then Julie leans back against him, tilting her head to the others side in open invitation, and the feel of her back against his chest makes a pleasant warmth spread throughout the rest of his body.

“People are going to look at me, you know,” she says after a moment. “I can’t help it if they do, and you won’t be able to either— but that doesn’t mean I’m looking back. How can I when—“

He lifts his head from the warmth of her shoulder when she doesn’t continue, curiosity eating away at him as he wonders how Julie had initially intended to finish her sentence.

“ _When_ …?” He prompts, the desire to know getting the better of him.

“Nothing— it’s silly. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not,” he assures her. He drops his next words right next to her ear, lips tingling when they accidentally brush against the shell of it. “You can tell me anything, Julie— you know that.”

She takes her time, words coming out slow as though forcing him to consider each and every one as she lays all of her cards out on the table. “How can I when I don’t ever want to look at anyone else but you?”

He drops an open mouthed kiss to the juncture of her neck because it’s all he can do— because Julie has rendered him speechless and he’s suddenly lost the ability to string letters together. The taste of her skin is intoxicating, and he can feel the way she shudders against him, skin pebbling against every bit of flesh his mouth is currently pressed against.

“You’re shivering,” it’s not the first thing Luke ever thought he’d say when he and Julie finally got to the point where they stopped dancing around confessing their feelings for each other, but he’s too punch-drunk over the feel of her to think straight. “Maybe I should have picked my jacket up off the floor before I came after you,” he mumbles against the column of her throat.

“Maybe…” she stutters. “ _Maybe_ …you just need to find another way to warm me up.”

She gasps when he groans her name against her skin, hands coming up to skim against her hips before curving around her waist. “You can’t say things like that and…”

“And _what_?” she prompts, pushing against him, pulling a sharp intake of breath into her lungs when she feels how hard he is behind her.

“You can’t say things like that and expect me to keep any bit of self-control I have left,” he rumbles back, fingertips boldly dipping ever so slightly under the waistband of her skirt.

The action doubles as a moment of weakness for himself as well as a warning for her, but it doesn’t work as well as Luke would have liked as far as deterring the girl in his arms.

“What if I _want_ you to lose control?” She asks, hands coming up to keep his fingers trapped under the fabric at her waist. “What if I want…”

“What _do_ you want, Julie?” He asks, question coming out sounding needy and desperate.

She doesn’t humor him with more clarification. Instead, Julie turns swiftly in his arms, hands coming up to rest on his shoulders— anchors she uses to lift herself up and press her lips to his in a searing kiss.

He freezes just for a moment, stunned over the realization that they’re finally kissing, before he comes alive under her lips.

Luke gives as good as he gets, tongue tangling with hers as he backs her up, pressing Julie against the bookshelf, plastering their bodies together as he tilts her head up to allow himself better access to her mouth. She rips a groan from his chest when the fingers she’s got twisted in his hair give a firm tug at the strands that live at the nape of his neck. And it spurs Luke on, the way it seems as if Julie can’t get enough of him…the way she so willingly wraps her legs around his waist when his hands find purchase under her skirt, lifting her against his own body until the only thing holding her up is the bookshelf at her back, and his strong arms under her thighs…the way her hips hitch involuntarily against his own when he presses into the sweltering heat at the juncture of her legs.

She pulls her lips away from his only to let out a reedy whimper when he slides against her just right, and the sound is more beautiful than any melody Luke ever heard in his life. But the noise is also far too loud, and the deafening silence of the space they’re in is a harsh reminder of the fact that they’re in a library. And while Luke might be invisible to everyone else that’s here, Julie very much isn't.

He shushes her gently, dropping a tender kiss to her temple, and another to the curve of her cheek, and another just below her ear. “Maybe we should stop— I’d hate for you to get caught…”

His suggestion earns him a face full of curls, when Julie shakes her head vigorously in response, legs tightening around his waist to keep Luke close in a way that stokes the fire that’s already blazing low in his belly.

She pants a series of words into his neck. Heated, half-formed sentences whispered in hushed tones that begin with phrases like _“don’t,”_ and _“please,”_ and _“Luke,”_ and _“I need.”_

And Luke has never been able to deny Julie anything. He’d give her the moon and all of the stars in the sky if she asked him to. Which is why, despite the risk involved, he knows even before she finishes any of her pleas, that he’ll give her this too.

He cups her cheek and pulls her head up so he can lock his eyes with hers. The irises of Julie’s eyes are darker than he’s ever seen them before, her pupils blown wide with a desire that matches his own. And if Luke’s heart could still beat at all, he knows it would be fluttering away in his chest right now, keeping time with the one in her own chest.

“Do you trust me?”

Julie nods, eyes never leaving his, and with that, Luke carefully lowers her back down to the ground, hissing as her body slides deliciously down his front. His lips meet hers in another kiss. It’s soft, and sweet, and gentle, and far different from any of the others they’ve exchanged since she first pressed her mouth against his.

“We can stop whenever you want, okay?” He murmurs.“You’re the boss…”

She nods, forehead pressed to his, top teeth digging into the flesh of her lower lip as he slowly skims his hands down her sides until his fingers make contact with the end of her skirt. He toys with the fabric for a moment, enjoying the way it makes her squirm in anticipation.

“Can I?” He asks, fingers inching up under the hem at a pace slow enough for Julie to stop him if she wants to.

He thinks she’s about to when her palm comes up to cover his left hand. She’s having none of it when he stills at her touch, a quiet, drawn out “ _Yes,_ ” falling from her parted lips as she moves his hand for him, trailing it up until his fingertips make contact with the cotton edge of her panties. Her eyes slide shut when Luke ghosts a line across the edge of the elastic band, chuckling in affectionate amusement when he hears Julie murmur something incoherent about callouses.

Her brows knot together in irritation at the sound, but Luke doesn’t give her a chance to hit him with a biting remark before he slips beneath the elastic band and runs his index finger through her wet heat. He swallows her moans with his mouth as he rubs slow circles around the spot where she craves him most.

“Look at you,” says, voice low and graveled with desire. “You’re so beautiful I can hardly stand it. And I know I shouldn’t— I know you probably don’t like it,” he continues heatedly, spurred on by the effect his words have on her.“But I can’t help it. I can’t can’t stand the thought of anyone else getting to _see you_ like this…getting to _touch you_ like this…getting to _hear you_ like this…getting to _taste you_ like this.”

He punctuates his last desire by sinking his teeth into a spot on her neck, the sound of Julie gasping near his ear drawing a sharp intake of breath from his lungs. And it’s suddenly not enough to taste the soft flesh under his lips when he wants to taste her _everywhere_.

He’s on his knees before he can even second guess the decision, face nuzzling into her stomach, nose brushing over the tiny bit of skin that’s visible between the two articles of clothing she’s wearing.

“Can I…?” He asks, dropping a kiss to her waist, fingers hooking under the elastic band on either side of her hips, pulling the offending garment down only when she sighs out another melodic _“yes.”_

Carefully, he lifts her right leg, dropping an open mouthed kiss to the inside of her knee before blazing a slow, deliberate path up her inner thigh, hooking her leg over his shoulder when he reaches her hip. Her skirt is bunched up near her waist, and he can’t help the way he takes a moment to look his fill while she shifts restlessly above him.

“ _Luke…_ ”

He’s heard Julie say his name a thousand times, but never quite like this before. It’s quiet, and breathy, and desperate, and it makes him ache with a yearning to hear her say it again, and again. He chances a glance up at her, surprised to find that she’s already looking down at him, eyes molten and riddled with desire and affection. And he doesn’t take his eyes off of hers as he leans in and presses a kiss to her center, groaning at the first taste of her on his tongue in a way that makes her hips jerk against his mouth. He steadies her with strong hands that tug and twist at the Sunset Curve shirt she’s wearing. Watches as her head thunks back against the books behind her, one of her hands coming up to cover her mouth in an effort to muffle whatever sounds might have come out if they were doing this anywhere other than in a library.

She comes apart with her fingers tugging on his hair and his lips wrapped around the swollen bundle of nerves that sits at the crux of her cinnamon colored thighs. And Luke drops a parting kiss to her knee before he gently lowers her leg back down.

Julie wastes no time in pulling his head down to hers for a lazy kiss once he’s standing. It’s just a lingering press of her mouth to his and yet, it feels like so much more. He pulls her close, tucking her head under his chin, shivering when he feels her shift so she can press her lips to his chest-- right where she would be able to feel his heart beating if he weren’t dead.

“All of that stuff you said, while you were…” she starts, trailing off bashfully. “About how you didn’t want anyone else to touch me? I get it.”

“You do?” He asks, surprise coloring the question.

Julie nods. “I think I’d probably be jealous, too...you know...if anybody else _could_ touch you like I can. Or could see you the way I see you.”

“It wouldn’t even matter even if they could,” Luke says.

“Why’s that?”

“Because, Jules,” he starts, one hand coming up to trace over her jawline. “How could anyone else ever matter when I don’t ever want to look at anyone else but _you_?”

It’s an echo of her own previous sentiment, and he knows she knows it when he sees a soft smile bloom over her face.

“Does this mean we’re finally taking our interesting little relationship to the next level?” She asks, echoing his own words from long ago back at him.

Luke laughs, tossing his head back before he shoots her a smile as wide as the one on her own face. “Yeah, I’d say we’ve danced around each other long enough, don’t you think?”

And then, Luke kisses her again. Because he can. Because they’ve both spent way too long denying each other of being this close. Because they've both spent too long being haunted by all of the reasons why they shouldn’t be together-- avoiding the fact that none of those reasons matter now that he knows that Julie loves him the way he loves her.

And maybe love isn’t the cure-all quick fix to all of the questions they can’t answer. Questions about the future, or how much time they have left together, or whether the fact that they can touch each other now means that there's some deeper magic at work that they don't quite understand yet. But maybe it is. Maybe love _is_ enough. He'd never thought it would be, but he does now.

Because right now, with Julie wrapped in his arms, as cheesy as it sounds, Luke Patterson wholeheartedly believes that perhaps love really is all they need to make it through whatever it is that life might decide to throw their way next.

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO FELLOW JUKE FANS!
> 
> Thanks for stopping by to read this shamelessly smutty one-shot that I originally posted anonymously because I was too chicken to post it to my profile. 
> 
> When I originally uploaded it back in January, I mentioned that I might come off anon if it got a bit of love from readers, but I didn't actually think anyone would read this. So thank you to all of you who did before you even knew it was me who wrote it. And thank you especially to all of you who have already left some very nice comments on this. Your kind words really gave me the push I needed to come off anon, and I appreciate y'all so much for that! 
> 
> Extra special thank you to the lovely group of people in the HGC writer's lounge for their last minute encouragement! 
> 
> If you're stumbling upon this now, comments and/or kudos are still so greatly appreciated— especially for something like this that I was super nervous to post (even anonymously!)
> 
> See y'all when I see you for the next one!  
> In between updates, you can find me on [Tumblr](https://xxprettylittletimebombxx.tumblr.com/) and/or on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ElaWithAnE)!


End file.
